MAC Freshen Up High-Light Powder ($35.50 for TBA oz.) is described as a “color wave ranging from coral to neutral.” Mixed together, it’s a lightly brightened, peachy tangerine with warm, reddish-orange tones and a very, very fine shimmer-sheen finish. (Keep in mind, most of the gold sheen on the surface is an over-spray, which I removed prior to swatching!) Urban Decay Kinky (P, $26.00) is darker. Urban Decay Indecent (P, $26.00) is peachier. Laura Mercier Rosegold Shimmer (LE) is more shimmery, darker. Too Faced Luminous Peach (LE) is more shimmery. Chanel Caresse (180) (LE, $45.00) is less orange. YSL Rebelle (7) (P, $47.00) is darker. MAC Style Cast (LE, $21.00) is more shimmery. Makeup Geek Smitten (P, $9.99) is lighter, less shimmery. Surratt Beauty Cantaloup (P, $32.00) is brighter, yellower. Guerlain Orange Blush (LE) is darker, less shimmery. Dior Amber (002) (LE, $56.00) is lighter. MAC Fresh Honey (LE, $27.00) is darker. MAC Blazing Haute (LE, $25.00) is more shimmery. MAC Ripe Peach (LE, $32.00) is darker. See comparison swatches / compare dupes side-by-side.

It’s a tri-colored powder that consists of a deeper, medium-dark coral with warm orange-red tones, yellowed tangerine, and a light yellow beige. As you might expect, it can vary in how light or dark, how yellow or red it is based on where you concentrate your brush. It tends to lean lighter than darker, as the lighter sections make up a greater amount in the compact. I don’t know how much is in the compact, but it is the same size as MAC’s face powders (Beauty Powders, High-Light Powders, Bronzing Powders, etc.) and those typically hold 0.35 oz. or so. The texture is soft, fairly smooth, and doesn’t have the thinner, firmer texture that some of the more recent limited edition cheek/face powders have had. That being said, the texture of the lightest shade seemed a bit firmer compared to the other two shades. I dug through the sections, and the three colors appeared to go all the way through.

On my medium complexion, it is subtle, and the finish is satiny, so there is only a smidgen of sheen. It had semi-opaque pigmentation that was easily used semi-sheer to semi-opaque depending on application methods/tools. For reference, on my medium skin tone, the color itself is subtle with a low level sheen that didn’t emphasize pores. It lasted for eight hours on me before fading. Though labeled a “High-Light Powder,” this is a product type that rarely seems to act like a traditional highlighting powder, and for fair to medium skin tones, this is more of a blush than a true highlighter, while darker skin tones may need to concentrate their brush towards the darker coral shade to get more of a blush out of it.

The Wash & Dry Collection will launch online on May 14th and be available in-stores on May 21st.

MAC Freshen Up High-Light Powder

MAC Freshen Up High-Light Powder

MAC Freshen Up High-Light Powder

MAC Freshen Up High-Light Powder

MAC Freshen Up High-Light Powder

MAC Freshen Up High-Light Powder

MAC Freshen Up High-Light Powder

MAC Freshen Up High-Light Powder

MAC Freshen Up High-Light Powder

MAC Freshen Up High-Light Powder

MAC Freshen Up High-Light Powder